It is very important to have goals and to have a plan on how you will go about achieving those goals. It is known that one of the traits of successful people is that they have a plan of action and they stick to it. The best way to create a plan is to ‘brainstorm’. Just get out a couple pieces of paper and write things down as they come to mind. Don’t worry about organization so much at this stage; just articulate your ideas in writing so that you can visualize your thoughts more clearly.
Since there is more to your life than only business, some of your goals may involve your personal life. That is why it is good in the next step to make a separate sheet – you want a successful home business because you need extra cash for a trip you want to take and maybe a few other things like paying off some bills. So these would clearly be apart from your business plan, with business being the means to an end. Before you get the money, you will need to have a plan and decide how you will accomplish your goal. What will be discussed here is the business plan to achieve your goals.
Obviously saying ‘I want $10,000 a month’ is a goal – but is it a realistic goal? It could be, but it is more logical to have short-term, mid-range and long-term goals. You should make your goals achievable so that you are not disappointed if you do not achieve them, for example by being too optimistic and hence unrealistic. So using this example, your short-term goal would be to earn $1000 a month within 6 months. That is realistic. Your mid-range goal is $5000 per month in one year, and $10,000 per month in 2 years.
Now it is time to plan how you will achieve your goals. Here comes another sheet of paper. First make a list of your business-related skills. What have you done in your career to earn money? What did you excel at particularly? If different than what you did well, what tasks did you really enjoy doing? If you had any business education or training, what did you learn? Do you have any hobbies or interests that might translate into a business opportunity?
New sheet of paper: What are some of the ideas you have about starting a home business? Do you want to sell products? Do you want to design websites? Do you want to do network marketing? Do you want to perform business services? It’s a lot more complicated, but do you want to create your own product, for example software, or even make something to sell such as baked goods, candles, soaps, stained glass, or ‘memorabilia’? Write all your ideas down.
More paper: one sheet per idea. Think about what each of your ideas would entail to make it happen. Think about the materials and equipment, how you would deliver them to your customers, etc. Where ideas sound feasible, consider the cost to begin. Do a little research. Then keep breaking it down into things you will need to take care of in order to start the business. Take some time with this step so that you will not leave anything out and be surprised when there is something that is not possible. Consider how you would advertise your business.
You may need a way to create operating capital if you do not have any to begin with. A good way to do that is network marketing. The reason being that affiliate programs already have the products and the systems in place for you – all you need to do is promote what has already been created to earn commissions. The only thing you would be doing is marketing and advertising and you only need a little money to pay membership fees. You don’t have to love it and it doesn’t have to be your dream business. Remember you just need the money so that you can execute your plan for your home business down the line.
